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It's Going Down

Two days before my birthday party, I was awake at 6:30 a.m. and heard a tree come crashing down. This is not the first time a tree has fallen in the "woods" in my back lot. I tensed up, hoping that the tree was not falling on the house. Thankfully, it didn't.

Lily, Violet and I went outside to find two large branches fallen across the back lot and back yard. They don't look too large in the pictures but I could not even get them to budge on my own.

After teaching class, I found my battery operated Black and Decker Alligator (clippers plus small chain saw) and stared cutting small pieces from the branches. The tool stopped working. I took it to Home Depot and they didn't have any of the Alligators in stock. It was up to me to repair it. Actual chain saws are too large for me and the electric models don't work well.

I added oil and managed to loosen the bolts to reattach the Alligator's chain. The process was tiring and frustrating but after working hard for two days, I was able to clear enough of the branches to swivel them completely onto the back lot. Eventually, I'll have to hire a crew to cut up the big branches and move them to the curb. Knoxville has an amazing brush pick-up service.

It seemed like a gazillion little limbs were down all over the yard. There were plenty for kindling and firewood (old pieces) so I started a fire in my fire pit in the yard and in the stone fire ring I built last year in the back lot. Thank goodness it was all cleaned up for my party but wow I probably lost about 10 pounds in the process. It was at least 98 degrees on both of the clean-up days. NOT cool! (See what I did there?)